Friends, family and church helped Andrew Smith heal after he lost his legs conducting counter-insurgency operations as part of the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan. Without them, the Wounded Warrior said, recovery would have been a longer and even more painful process.
His wife, Tori Smith, left law school to be by his side in the hospital. Family friend Dallas Bunton Sr., a veteran himself who was once stationed in Korea, watched hopefully from afar, all too aware of the realities of returning home from war.
As Smith healed, left the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland and moved into a home supporters built for him in Apison, he never stopped thinking about how those with less community support managed to recover – physically, mentally and financially.
Over the past two years, Smith has found ways to reach out to fellow veterans through the creation of a nonprofit he calls Honoring the Sacrifice. In two years, the group has provided roughly $100,000 to help wounded veterans with a variety of needs ranging from food to housing to providing computers or financial assistance.
“It started out as just collecting gift cards,” Smith said. “But really, it’s grown a lot.”
Stories such as Smith’s journey from injured to benefactor inspired Bunton to find ways for his business to contribute, too.
“My wife’s nephew was visiting over a year ago from Oklahoma and he was explaining what his company was doing for veterans and the problem of soldier suicide,” said Bunton, CEO and chairman of the East Brainerd-based North American Credit Services, a healthcare revenue management service. “He was making a batch of T-shirts about this and the proceeds were 100 percent going to the organization of Stop Soldier Suicide. It just stayed in the back of my mind.”
Though Bunton said the mistreatment of soldiers by the general public that occurred following the Vietnam War is no longer the norm, more focus on and assistance for veterans are still greatly needed.
With NACS matching employee contributions, the company successfully raised a total of $5,800 for Stop Soldier Suicide two months ago.
“When [Andrew] was wounded, we shared in prayer and concern as we watched the struggle and pain as this family put the pieces of life back together,” Bunton said. “To watch the pain, the hope and faith [of] everyone become involved [in] [Andrew’s] recovery; his coming back to the area; his home building through the past several years our paths continually crossed and I am amazed at the courage of Andrew, his family and the value he and others bring to our community.”
To find out more about Honoring the Sacrifice or to donate, visit honoringthesacrifice.com. To find out more about Stop Soldier Suicide, visit stopsoldiersuicide.org.